Monthly Archives: January 2014

The Guyanese and Trinidadians of NYC

Picture: Guyanese and Trinidadians Of Queens, NY celebrate Phagwah or Holi, the Spring Festival, in March 2013.

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 14, 2014: The combined population of Guyanese and Trinidadians represent the third highest non-immigrant population in New York City, trailing only behind migrants from the Dominican Republic and China.

That’s according to an analysis by Ravi Ramkeesoon of the Indo-Caribbean Alliance of the Guyanese and Trinidadian Populations in New York City as reported by the New York City’s Planning Department, Newest New Yorkers report.

The Alliance says it decided to combine the two groups in NYC because of the cultural and socio-economic similarities. Continue reading →

News Americas, LONDON, England, Thurs. Jan. 30, 2014: The President of the European Commission (EC), José Manuel Barroso, has confirmed that Europe is presently in the process of debating a significant change in its policy towards Cuba.

Speaking recently to journalists in Madrid, Mr. Barroso, who is a former Portuguese Prime Minister, said that the European Union (EU) is discussing the possibility of modifications to its Cuba policy, and that this will require the blessing of all of Europe’s 28 member countries. He also reaffirmed the EU’s long-standing wish for there to be change in Cuba in relation to human rights, and its continuing desire to see the adoption of western democratic norms. Continue reading →

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (WINN) — While the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) pushes the agenda of regional integration, noted Caribbean historian Dr Lennox Honeychurch from Dominica is not that optimistic that this will materialize. He is instead turning his hope on closer integration of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States –OECS countries [read more on OECS]

Dr Lennox Honeychurch

“The Caribbean will never come together because of this individualism,” Honeychurch said.

“That is why I have given up on CARICOM; yes let them have their meetings, let them have their big bureaucracy down there in Guyana, but really nothing is going to happen with them. I put more faith in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States but I do not see a political union,” he added.

A guest on WINN Fm’s Voices programme last Wednesday January 22, Honeychurch recounted the attempts to regionalism in the West Indies Federation of the 1950s and the role the OECS, particularly St Kitts and Nevis played in that construct. Continue reading →

Letter from Eusi Kwayana followed by a news report of the Chief Justice’s ruling on Budget Cuts by the Legislature:

Dear Editor,

The Chief Justice and the “Separation of Powers”

In the Guyana Constitution as in most constitutions , the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary , the three “powers” of government , overlap. It is the work of the political culture to keep them from intruding unlawfully on one another’s jurisdictions. Judges are not legislators, but they make law. Many of the laws we are guided by as “binding precedents” are made by judges. Societies are not going to throw away the these precedents until the courts themselves, or the parliaments make them no longer binding.

In Guyana it should be easy for a court to appreciate that the business of the National Assembly is governed by a special body of rules with the status of law called Standing Orders. Are not procedures of the courts governed by Rules of Court? And does not the High Court Act empower courts to determine their own procedure where the Rules of Court do not apply? Continue reading →

Time for a radical shift in the sugar belt

JANUARY 26, 2014 | By Moses Nagamootoo – AFC Vice-Chairman and Member of Parliament

The shadows of doom seem to be hanging over the sugar industry. Besides continuing mismanagement and political interference, there is the ominous warning from eminent scholar, Dr. Clive Thomas, that the sugar industry has reached a point of no return, “or alternatively, a negative tipping-point”.

For the 16,000 sugar workers and an estimated 50,000 persons whose lives depend of the industry, this raises the spectre of “bitter sugar” that historically was the root cause for oppression and despair of slaves and bonded workers on the colonial plantations in Guyana. Continue reading →

Petitions for nationals of unlisted countries may be approved if it is determined to be in the interest of the United States.

WASHINGTON D.C., United States, Tuesday January 28, 2014, CMC – The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says six Caribbean countries are among 63 countries worldwide that are eligible to participate in two visa programmes this year.

The H-2A andH-2A and H-2B petition H-2B Visa programmes allow US employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural and non-agricultural jobs, respectively. Continue reading →

Ms Jane Seymour, the daughter of Guyana’s celebrated poet, AJ Seymour, and Dr Jacqueline de Weever, the niece of the poet, are now back in the Unites States, after spending a special week in Georgetown, Guyana. They were there to participate in functions celebrating the Birth Centenary of the poet Arthur James Seymour, which was on January 12, 2014, and which proved to be quite a success.

The principal function was the staging of a poetry concert, “SEE MORE POETRY”, which was held at the Theatre Guild Playhouse in Kingston, Georgetown, on Sunday January 12, to a sold-out audience. A wide variety of the poems by Seymour were read by some of Guyana’s well-known radio, theatre and cultural luminaries. They included Margaret Lawrence, Ron Robinson, Ian McDonald, Rupert Roopnaraine, Francis Quamina Farrier, Joan Cambridge, Ras Michael, Nazim Hussain and Malcolm DeFreitas. Continue reading →

Ziggy Marley bags Grammy for Best Reggae Album

The Jamaican icon’s eldest son beat out Sly and Robbie and the Jam Masters; Sizzla; Beres Hammond, and Snoop Lion (aka Snoop Dogg/Snoopzilla).

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Monday January 27, 2014, CMC – The eldest son of Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, has been awarded a Grammy for the Best Reggae Album for his live In Concert set.

The 14-track album, recorded on Marley’s 2012 world tour, got the nod over Sly and Robbie and the Jam Masters’ Reggae Connection; Sizzla’s The Messiah; One Love, One Life by Beres Hammond, and Snoop Lion’s Reincarnated. Continue reading →

Woolies and Soweto Gospel Choir: Mandela Madiba Tribute

On Saturday, 7 December 2013, Woolworths had planned a performance at our Parkview store in Pretoria to support our Operation Smile Christmas campaign. The Soweto Gospel Choir’s planned a rendition of James Brown’s I Feel Good. But, after Madiba’s passing the choir decided on a tribute instead. They chose Johnny Clegg’s Asimbonanga.